These will be exorbitantly expensive real estate investments. To keep the State’s Capitol building project in perspective, $300,000,000 spent to subsidize private development in Trenton would increase its tax base by 15%. That kind of money would revitalize the city.

The more important concern is that we’re thinking about spending vast amounts of money to perpetuate government processes that are over 200 years old. In 1790 when the NJ State Capitol was built and even in 1907 when Trenton City Hall was built, our needs were much different. Government was smaller and less powerful. A big imposing building that would intimidate the public was needed to project power. Today governments project power through taxes and force.

Do we still need intimidating government structures? Should inertia be in the way rethinking and improving our government?

Let’s take this opportunity to build a better government.

Since the time Trenton City Hall was built, cars, phones and the Internet have become widespread. In 1907 citizens likely needed a centralized place to meet and do the business of government. But that’s simply not true today. In fact, by limiting City Council meetings, records retrieval and permit application to a physical activity ONLY conducted at City Hall, we’ve made government less inclusive and inconvenient. City and State meetings are essentially small private affairs that go unattended.

Let’s turn this around and use 21st century technology to do it.

Every meeting can be webcast.

Residents could attend from their homes or office via phone or computer

Participation could be managed with modern webcast technology allowing for typed, audio and video interaction

Transcripts, documents, public polls and votes could be made automatically available

Facebook is already a better place for civic debate than any government building

Records can be made electronic

Most records are (or should be) electronic today

With just a little effort we can make birth certificates, tax records etc. available online and eliminate office space for storage and clerks for retrieval

Gone would be OPRA requests to get basic government information

Permits can be submitted online

There is no government fee or permit that has to be submitted in person

Processes would be faster and leave a clearer paper trail

More office space and clerks could be eliminated

Politicians don’t need marble floors on which to talk politics

If a State or City politician really wants to talk politics, let them do it over coffee

Or let them use modern, efficient shared office space (our representatives aren’t full time employees after all).

Better yet, they can use audio-conferences, email and chat like the rest of us.

We’re contemplating spending millions or perhaps hundreds of millions of dollars to perpetuate a style of government which is archaic, inefficient and exclusionary. Instead, let’s spend a small fraction of that to reinvent government to be closer and more responsive to the people.

Let’s tear the buildings down and start over. Or, if our state capitols and city halls need to be preserved as relics of an ancient form of government, then let’s spend the money out of the museum budget.